No More Tears: Mega Man 4
by Snodin
Summary: Proto Man hates it when people cry. Especially if they're scared little girls. One-shot, set during "Mega Man 4."


..

"**NO MORE TEARS"**

**.  
**

**Set during "Mega Man 4"**

**Snodin**

.

Deep within the castle of Doctor Wily, a little girl's soft sobs could be heard echoing from the lowest of chambers. Any other creature, human or robotic, would have ignored these cries as they were nothing more than an annoyance. All that is, except for one: Wily's first creation, a seemingly perfect warrior robot with one small flaw: the ability to think and feel for himself.

He was living here for a while now, and aware of his creator's latest scheme. He knew that there was a human prisoner locked away somewhere in this cold and dark fortress. But because Wily was the one who perfected him and even prolonged his life, his obligations to his "father" kept him from interfering with this scheme. That is, until he started hearing that sound.

Unlike all of the other robots in the castle, he could not ignore this strange new sound. It was a sound he had ever heard before; it almost sounded like a song, the chirp of a small bird perhaps. It was mysterious, haunting… and all too sorrowful. He knew where it was coming from, but for the life of him he couldn't understand its meaning. He just had to investigate.

Kalinka Cossack, a human girl with reddish-brown hair and dressed in a red coat and black ushanka, was curled up in the corner of her cage with her face buried in her hands. She had been crying for hours, unsure of whether it was day or night and steadily losing all hope of escape. It didn't dawn on her that she had company until his steely boots came clanking right up to her prison. Alarmed, she turned around with a soft gasp.

It was a boy- no, a robot! He was dressed all in grey, with red gloves, a belt and boots. Dark visors attached to his red and white helmet covered his eyes, making his expressions uncertain, while a long yellow scarf draped his neck. He looked very much like a superhero in her eyes, which was why she didn't immediately feel fear in his presence. But the longer he stared at her through his dark shades, the more she trembled.

"You… you're one of Wily's robots, aren't you?" she whimpered nervously in a thick Russian accent.

The robot boy cooly replied, "Yes… and no. Name's Proto Man."

Her quivering stopped; he seemed nice despite his lack of emotion. "M-my name is Kalinka… Kalinka Cossack."

He took another step closer. "You're Doctor Cossack's daughter."

The little girl gulped, took a breath and replied, "Yes…"

"I know of your dad, he's a smart guy. His robots, though? Heh. Not much for fighting, are they?"

"They were never meant to fight," frowned Kalinka. "But Doctor Wily wants so badly to defeat Mega Man, he's forcing my father and his robots to fight him instead."

"So you know what's going on, huh?"

"Yes."

"Puh," smirked the robot. "Wily's really losing it if he thinks your dad can take on Mega Man."

"But he said if he didn't, then my father would never see me again."

The robot shrugged indifferently. "It's still a pretty desperate scheme if you ask me."

The girl's eyes watered again. "They shouldn't be fighting… My father is a good man. Mega Man's a good robot… I don't want them to fight. I… I just…. I want to go home."

Then it started up again, that sound, that sobbing. It was louder now, piercing his armor and going straight to his soul (if one could call it that). In that moment, a sharp pain hit him. It wasn't the typical blast of heat coming from his unstable core, but it hurt all the same- worse, in a way. He winced as the girl's eyes now started to rain drops of water.

"What are you doing?" asked a confused and slightly scared Proto Man.

The girl wiped her tears while new ones poured out. "I'm… I'm crying," she sniffled.

His mouth slightly gaped open while his mind tried to process this new information. But with every tear that was shed and every breath following a sob, he was becoming less and less comfortable. "Please… please, stop."

She sniffled again and sputtered, "I'm sorry. I can't help it… I'm just so scared for my father…. I'm scared I'll never see him again…" Losing control, she let out an anguished wail.

The ache in his core grew; he gritted his teeth. "So this… this is what humans do when they're sad? …I don't like it." He paused from his own inner pain to realize that the girl was in even worse shape. Almost subconsciously, he reached his hand out through the bars to touch her cheek, and wiped her tears with a gentility he never knew he had. "If I break you out of here, will you stop crying?"

Her eyes beamed as they looked deeply at his face. She could have sworn she saw his true eyes peering through the visor. "You… you'll help me?"

"Only if it means you won't be sad anymore."

Bravely she took a big gulp and gave him a swift nod. "Yes. Yes, I promise, I will be happy."

"Good." He took back his hand and stepped back, giving Kalinka the cue to back away from the door. He fired up his left arm's cannon and fired one shot, which was enough to incinerate the lock of the cage. The little bird was now free.

With her heart racing, she lunged at the robot boy, embracing him fully before he had the chance to even react. As she squeezed his torso, he made a soft sigh. With his shield in one hand, he wrapped the other arm around the girl's waist. "Hold on," he said, before the two of them teleported out of there.

.

Outside of the Cossack palace, Mega Man was in the middle of his inevitable battle against Doctor Cossack when Proto Man suddenly appeared with Kalinka in tow. The young girl was quick to block the path between them, pleading to the Blue Bomber for her father's life. After she briefly explained doctor Wily's plot, Mega Man was all too eager to lay down his Mega Buster.

Proto Man, meanwhile, fled the scene almost immediately after releasing Kalinka. But he knew he couldn't go home now- he had no home anymore. Wily would never welcome him back after this betrayal, and since he was still on shady terms with his other family, he was completely on his own now.

But he was okay with that- in fact, he was truly happy now. So long as no more tears were shed, he was at peace.

.

**(Not) THE END**


End file.
